Riverside Reporter: August 2014

Another great few weeks here at Riverside: the sun still shines, but we are making due. (Please pray for the local farmers though, as this severe drought may impact their crop yield)

I had the wonderful opportunity to watch two of the surgeries performed this week at the Subbamma Mission Hospital, and while differences between American and Indian standards were evident, I was still very impressed by the surgical staff here and their capacity to safely perform C-Sections and other surgeries. What a blessing to this community! Fruity, the baby boy’s adorable name, and Subhashini, his proud mother, are doing well, and are enjoying the fellowship of many friends and family. The father told me that he was very impressed with our facilities, although he did wish we sold more soda at the canteen for their celebrations!

Me with Fruity, a C-section baby only hours old!

As pleased as I was with the functioning of the hospital, I was even more excited to host a team from Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad, who installed a Tele-medicine unit, which connects patients from rural areas like ours to specialty doctors around India. Once it is up and running in a few weeks, it will be a great attraction for our campus, and should benefit many local patients who can not afford to travel to big cities to see a specialist.

We continue to be blessed by the contributions of Alex Thomas, our volunteer from the UK. He is training the upper classes well in physical science as we continue to search for the right full-time teacher, and has set up the best-kept science lab in the area (probably in the whole of Andhra Pradesh!). He also has begun work on a new curriculum for Riverside’s bible classes : the program will stretch over the course of 10 years, prepping the students adequately on the Word of God.

Unit exams take place this week, so please keep the students in your prayers, as they prepare to show off all they have learned. The teachers have been working hard prepping them, and have been especially helpful in the absence of a Hindi teacher, taking extra substitutions and helping with corrections. We appreciate our great staff!

Martha has been carefully managing the demolition and construction of the campus water tower, which sustained some damage during one instance of heavy rain. Please pray for the safety of the workers as this important project continues. We are especially thankful for our loyal supporters at this time.

Our Independence Day celebration boasted many traditional songs, as well as the raising of the Indian flag up our brightly decorated flagpole. Many of the girls adorned their hair with extra flowers, and even had beautiful mahendi! We had a great time celebrating this great nation!

As this month comes to a close, we look forward to cooler weather, state exams, a week vacation in September, continued excellence in our classes, and most of all, sharing God’s grace with our surrounding community. Thank you all for your prayers and support!